James Mann Campbell

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CHAPTER III. A CHRISTIAN MYSTIC. PAUL, as we have seen, often takes
his stand as a mystic upon common theistic ground. He speaks as a
religious man; he feels his oneness with all who worship the Father
in spirit and in truth, and who take a religious view of God, of
nature, and of the universe. But at other times he enters within
the gate of Christian faith, and stands distinctly upon Christian
ground. Then he speaks, not as one to whom Christianity is a
refined form of theism, but as one whose' thought and experience
are rooted and grounded in Christ. His theology is positively and
uncompromisingly Christocentric. Hence it follows that, while there
are many of his mystical utterances which non-Christian readers
unhesitatingly accept, there are others which find a responsive
echo only in the hearts of Christian believers. To Paul as a
Christian mystic the Reality of Realities whom he sought to know
was manifested in Christ. Through Christ the personalknowledge of
God, for which his spirit craved, was mediated. Christ had to him,
as Ritschl has put it, " the religious value of God." The doctrine
of the divine immanence was to him simply another form of the
doctrine of the Real Presence. By baptizing it into the name of
Christ, he gave to it a new significance. Interpreted in the light
of his teaching, the declaration, " God is in His world," means,
Christ is in His world; for " God in history" we are warranted to
read, Christ in history; for " God in nature " we have the right to
substitute, Christ in nature. Henceforth to us " There are no
Gentile oaks or pagan pines, The grass beneath our feet is
Christian grass." In Christ is found the key which unlocks the
secrets of the universe. As a Christian mystic, Paul held direct
communion with the Father through Christ. T...